Four feared dead on UK yacht

Four men are missing and feared dead after the yacht they were sailing from
the Caribbean to Britain ran into difficulties in the mid Atlantic

The crew of the Cheeki Rafiki, clockwise from top left: Paul Goslin, James Male, Andrew Bridge and Steve Warren

By Nick Collins,, David Barrett and Nicola Fifield

8:06PM BST 18 May 2014

Four British sailors are missing at sea and feared dead after they capsized in the mid-Atlantic Ocean while sailing home from a regatta in Antigua.

The 40ft ‘Cheeki Rafiki’ performance racer-cruiser began taking on water about 600 miles (1,000km) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on Thursday during a return voyage from the prestigious Antigua Sailing Week regatta.

Stormforce Coaching, the yacht’s Southampton-based operators said the crew – Andrew Bridge, the 21-year-old skipper; James Male, 23, an intern; and volunteer crew Paul Goslin, 56 and Steve Warren, 52 – were thought to be in a life raft, although this has not been confirmed.

A search operation by American and Canadian aircraft and merchant vessels was called off on Sunday morning with a US coastguard spokesman claiming: “We would have found them by now if we were going to find them.”

The crew had reported their difficulties to Stormforce and were said to be “stable” before losing contact in the early hours of Friday while diverting to the Azores.

Mr Bridge, from Farnham, Surrey, and Mr Male, from Southampton, are understood to have been part of Stormforce crew racing the yacht in the Caribbean while Mr Goslin and Mr Warren, both from Somerset, are also experienced sailors and joined for the final day of the regatta.

Weather conditions in the area where the men went missing were described as treacherous, with winds in excess of 50 knots, waves of 15 to 20 feet and visibility reduced to under a mile.

The search was aided by two GPS beacons carried by the crew, which broadcast coordinates of their last known location while batteries last, but the signals are no longer being received.

Crew on board the Maersk Kure, a 1,000-foot container ship, saw debris believed to be the overturned hull of the Cheeki Rafiki, but did not stop to inspect it because there was no sign of the crew.

Doug Innes, director of Stormforce who had led the crew racing Cheeki Rafiki in Antigua, said the crew could still be alive if they were able to board a life raft.

"Although the search efforts coordinated by Boston were exceptional we are devastated that the search has now been called off so soon,” he said.

"Our thoughts are with the four yachtsmen and their families and we hope and pray for them all."

Georgina Bridge, Mr Bridge’s aunt, told Sky News: “Obviously the family are really concerned that the search has been suspended and we are really hoping that it will be resumed.

“We are holding out great hope that Andrew and the guys on board Cheeki Rafiki will be found.”